U.S. President Donald Trump told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that Mexico is the “epicenter” of cartel violence and “must reclaim control of its soil from the enemies of humanity.”
During a lengthy address at the U.N. General Assembly Building in New York City, Trump described drug cartels as “the ISIS of the Western Hemisphere” before labeling Mexico as “the epicenter of the cartel violence, unfortunately.”
🇺🇳🇺🇸 Donald #Trump aseguró que 🇲🇽 #México es el epicentro de la violencia de los cárteles de la droga a quienes debe quitarle el control de su territorio, esto en su discurso ante la Asamblea General de la #ONU en Nueva York. “Lamentablemente, México es el epicentro de la… pic.twitter.com/eKhqP9yPpL
— La Jornada (@lajornadaonline) September 22, 2026
“It’s unacceptable for the United States to share a 2,000-mile border with a territory controlled by enemy cartels. So Mexico must reclaim control of its soil from the enemies of humanity,” he told his fellow world leaders and other officials, including Mexican Foreign Affairs Minister Roberto Velasco.
Trump subsequently declared that “freedom will be coming to Cuba and safety and security will be coming to Mexico.”
He didn’t specify how “safety and security” would be achieved in Mexico, but he has previously demonstrated his eagerness to combat Mexican cartels with U.S. force on Mexican soil. President Claudia Sheinbaum is vehemently opposed to any kind of U.S. intervention in Mexico, and has firmly denounced what she sees as U.S. interference in Mexican affairs.
Despite bilateral tensions related to security and trade, Trump spoke glowingly about the Mexico-U.S. relationship in his U.N. address.
“I’m very proud to tell you we have a very good relationship with the Mexican government. We’ve made great strides — very great strides — with Mexico,” he said, apparently referring to security cooperation.
“They don’t want the cartels either. And when that day comes, this entire region will be a better, safer and more beautiful place in which to live and thrive.”
Trump delivered his speech in New York a week after he submitted a “presidential declaration” to the U.S. Congress in which he said that “Mexico must take additional action” against drug cartels “that dominate vast areas of its territory,” and arrest “the many corrupt public officials” who have colluded with them.
In response, Sheinbaum said that Mexico doesn’t need to be judged “from the outside” and questioned the United States efforts to combat drug use and the illicit southward flow of weapons.
Under pressure from Trump on cartels, Sheinbaum turns spotlight on US drug use
Trump: Cartels are ‘enemies at war with civilization’
Before turning his focus specifically to Mexico, Trump spoke about cartel activity in the Western Hemisphere.
“For decades, other administrations allowed much of this region to be dominated by vicious gangs and bloodthirsty drug cartels, destabilized by uncontrolled migration and infiltrated by hostile foreign adversaries — foreign, sick, demented adversaries,” he said.
“But not anymore. We are reasserting American power, including American military power, where necessary, in our region and around the world to create a safer future for all of us. It’s happening and it’s happening quickly,” Trump said.
The U.S. president noted that his administration has designated various drug cartels — including eight Mexican ones — as foreign terrorist organizations, and “unleashed the United States Armed Forces to eliminate them.”
“The cartels are the ISIS of the Western Hemisphere — not good people. They’re enemies at war with civilization, using murder, rape, torture and extortion as instruments of terror. Like ISIS, they should be killed, exiled or detained as enemy combatants without the possibility of release, which is what we’re doing,” Trump said.
“To that end, the United States has carried out dozens of strikes on cartel drug boats, destroying 97% of the drugs coming into the [U.S. via the] ocean and sea. You’ve seen it. They disappear very quickly, and we’re down 90%. They’re down 97%. Nobody thought that was possible. It was a big source of delivery,” he said.
According to the International Drug Policy Consortium, on Sept. 2, a group of U.N. experts demanded an end to unlawful killings by U.S. forces, after at least 223 deaths at sea were recorded from U.S. air strikes in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean over the past year.
“These systematic killings gravely violate the fundamental obligation to respect the right to life,” the experts said.
“International law does not permit governments to simply murder alleged criminals at sea, just as the police cannot summarily execute people on the street in United States territory.”
Mexico News Daily
